Shrimp Pad Thai

Was really in the mood for some Pad Thai but didn’t want all the calories and fat found in typical restaurant versions of the dish, so I decided to attempt to make this myself to try to pare down some of the unheathier aspects. Pulled this recipe off of the web and it came out better than I expected. The full recipe is below with my tweaks just after the photo.

8 ounces uncooked flat rice noodles (pad Thai noodles)

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice $

1 tablespoon Sriracha or chili garlic sauce

3 tablespoons canola oil $

1 cup (2-inch) green onion pieces

8 ounces peeled and deveined large shrimp $

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup fresh bean sprouts

1/4 cup chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts $

3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil

1. Cook noodles according to package directions; drain.

2. While water comes to a boil, combine sugar and next 4 ingredients (through Sriracha) in a small bowl.

So I changed a little from the original instructions. First, I didn’t use three full tablespoons of canola, only just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Shrimp has a lot of liquid in it, so you don’t have to worry about anything sticking. The extra canola oil is just extra fat that’s unnecessary. In addition I left out the peanuts altogether. When I serve this to guests I’ll likely have chopped peanuts available on hand for anyone that wants them, but again, they’re just extra fat. I also cut the garlic chili in half thinking it may be a little too spicy but that was really just unnecessary. It was diluted enough not to cause me any heartburn and the flavor didn’t really come through. Next time I’ll leave it as-is. The one thing I noticed about the sauce itself was that it was a little too sweet and not quite savory enough. Next time I’ll likely tone down the brown sugar and bump up the soy sauce and fish sauce.

Have a favorite Pad Thai recipe? Leave a message in the comments section!